Pecan Groves in Coahuila: the Tree That Shades the Haciendas

Coahuila produced 21,028.38 tons of nuts (DGSIAP's crop category "nuez") in 2025, across 21,242.79 hectares planted (Vanguardia, citing DGSIAP data, August 2026) [2]. The state is part of the pecan belt of northern Mexico, which SADER described in 2021 as the world's leading producer of nuez de nogal, with 52% of global output in the 2016-2020 period [3]; SIAP's own 2025 Agri-Food Outlook, by contrast, places Mexico fifth worldwide with 4.4% of output and names China the largest producer [1]. At the Ex-Hacienda San Juan de Amargos, in Paredón, the family keeps pecan trees alongside the vineyard, according to Jesús Antonio Saro Llaguno, owner of Bodegas Capellanía, quoted by El Diario de Coahuila in 2021 (translation) [6].

Key facts

• Chihuahua supplied 61% of national pecan output in 2024, with 103,272 tons harvested and an economic spillover of 7,865 million pesos (SIAP) [1].
• Coahuila planted 21,242.79 hectares of pecan groves and produced 21,028.38 tons of nuts in 2025, worth 1,569 million pesos (Vanguardia, citing DGSIAP data) [2].
• Between 2016 and 2020, Coahuila accounted for 10.7% of national pecan production, behind Chihuahua (62.9%) and Sonora (14.3%) (SADER) [3].
• A pecan tree begins producing between years 6 and 10 after planting and keeps yielding a commercial crop for more than 50 years (SNICS) [4].
• A mature pecan tree needs between 1,170 and 1,310 mm of water a year, a high water demand per the literature cited by INIFAP (2015) [5].

Why does a pecan tree change the climate under its canopy?

The pecan is a deciduous tree that can grow past 30 meters tall, according to SIAP's Agri-Food Outlook and Mexico's Seed Inspection and Certification Service (SNICS) [1] [4]. A tree that size blocks much of the direct radiation, and transpiration from the leaves cools the air underneath: the same physics that makes any grove feel cooler than an open flat.

How large is Mexico as a pecan producer?

Between 2016 and 2020, Mexico was the world's leading producer of pecans (nuez de nogal), with 52% of global output, ahead of the United States and South Africa, according to Mexico's Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER) [3]. In the same period the country ranked as the world's second-largest exporter by volume of shelled pecans, with 14.9% of the market, in a trade dominated by the United States as buyer [3]. That international weight rests mainly on three northern states: Chihuahua, Sonora and Coahuila.

What role does Coahuila play in national production?

Between 2016 and 2020, Coahuila accounted for 10.7% of national pecan production, behind Chihuahua (62.9%, growing 5.4% a year) and Sonora (14.3%) [3]. For 2025, the state's pecan output reached 21,028.38 tons across 21,242.79 hectares planted, worth 1,569 million pesos, an 8.3% increase in value over 2024 (Vanguardia, citing DGSIAP data) [2]. Zaragoza, Morelos and Villa Unión were the three municipalities with the highest production value in the state that year, and the northern-central region accounted for 493 million pesos and 76% of the planted area [2].

How long does a pecan tree take to produce, and how much water does it need?

A pecan tree is not a fast crop: it starts bearing fruit between 6 and 10 years after planting, and keeps producing commercially for more than 50 years, according to SNICS [4]. Whoever plants a pecan tree, like whoever plants a vineyard, does it thinking of who will harvest later.

It is also a thirsty tree. A study from Mexico's National Institute of Forestry, Agriculture and Livestock Research (INIFAP) on irrigation scheduling for pecan groves reports, citing earlier findings, that a mature tree's water requirement is highly variable, with estimates ranging between 1,170 and 1,310 mm a year (translation) [5]. The study's own model, scheduled to the tree's thermal development, calculated instead a requirement of 741 mm for the budbreak-to-harvest cycle, not counting pre-budbreak irrigation (translation) [5].

When is the pecan harvested in northern Mexico?

The harvest is concentrated in the last quarter of the year, when the fruit reaches maturity, according to the 2025 Agri-Food Outlook (Panorama Agroalimentario) from Mexico's Agri-Food and Fisheries Information Service (SIAP) [1].

What is the connection between pecan trees and Ex-Hacienda Amargos?

According to Jesús Antonio Saro Llaguno, owner of Bodegas Capellanía, quoted by El Diario de Coahuila in 2021, the family has pecan trees on the Ex-Hacienda San Juan de Amargos, in Paredón, Coahuila, in addition to the vineyards (translation) [6], home to the Ex-Hacienda Amargos project.

How much water a mature pecan tree needs also helps explain why managing water is not a minor detail for any development in the Coahuila desert, a subject covered in depth in the article on water management in the desert. The area's native vegetation is explained in the piece on Coahuila desert biodiversity, and the hacienda's full history, with its sources, is in the site's history section.